2014 Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards Honorees

Established in 2004 by eBay founder and philanthropist Jeff Skoll, Participant Media is responsible for more than 50 films, of which 36 received Academy Award nominations and 7 earned Academy Awards, including Good Night and Good Luck, North Country, Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth, Lincoln, State 194, and The Square. Participant has pioneered the groundbreaking marriage of entertainment media and social activism, using film as the cornerstone of campaigns to facilitate social change. One campaign, in conjunction with the release of Food, Inc., prompted nearly 250,000 people to petition Congress to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act of 2010. This year, Participant Media and Ms. Selma Hayek will debut an animated film based on Kahlil Gibran’s world-renowned book The Prophet.

George MitchellNajeeb Halaby Award for Public Service

Hon. George J. Mitchell served for 15 years as U.S. Senator for his home state of Maine. During his six-year tenure as Senate Majority Leader, he declined an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, choosing instead to remain in the Senate and pursue passage of a national health care bill. After playing a key role in the reauthorization of the Clean Air Act and passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Mitchell left the Senate to serve as President Clinton’s U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. For his successful negotiation of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, Mitchell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Liberty Medal, and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. In 2009, President Obama tapped Mitchell as the first U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, a position he held until his retirement in 2011. Co-founder of the Bipartisan Policy Center and founder of Maine’s Mitchell Institute, the Senator today serves as a Senior Fellow and Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution, a Visiting Professor at Leeds Metropolitan University's School of Applied Global Ethics, and Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project.

Martin Luther King IIISpecial Recognition

As we mark the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we are honored to have Martin Luther King III join us to accept a special recognition of his work and his family’s legacy, most especially the pioneering vision and leadership of his father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The anniversary of the Civil Rights Act reminds us of the power of individuals who are willing to pursue their vision with a clarity and conscience strong enough to lend a voice to those without one. Its passage would not have been possible but for the leadership of individuals like Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, who devoted their lives to the struggle for freedom and equality. In the wake of Dr. King’s tragic passing, Coretta Scott King and her children continued to dedicate themselves to the highest values of human dignity and nonviolence. Mrs. King founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in 1968 as a living memorial to her husband’s life and dream. Through its programmatic and memorial activities, the King Center brings the message of nonviolence to almost every corner of the world. Martin Luther King III has carried the torch lit by both of his parents by dedicating himself to non-violent social action to rid the world of social, political, and economic injustice. His work has gained him recognition as one of the nation's most ardent advocates for the poor and the oppressed.